Westbridge exits LinkFresh

LinkFresh was a WestBridge SME Fund portfolio company. The fund closed on £30m in 2012 and was 91% deployed as of June 2018. It has realised a number of assets including Aero Stanrew, E2Train and Vista Support Services.

Aptean is currently backed by TA Associates and Vista Equity Partners. It has made the acquisition to expand its portfolio and geographical footprint.

Previous funding
In 2012, WestBridge invested £2.6m in the buyout of LinkFresh's parent company, Anglia Business Solutions, in return for a 43% stake in the business. The firm backed the management team in buying the business out from family shareholders in a transaction that valued the company at £6m. The deal involved £1.5m in debt provided by the Co-Operative Bank, £1.4m from the vendor (loan notes) and £500,000 from management. An affiliate of American investor group Giumarra provided the remainder of the funding.

Company
Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Cambridge, LinkFresh provides enterprise resource planning software to the fresh produce sector. The group generated a turnover of £6.89m with a net loss of £6.30m in 2017.

People
Aptean – TVN Reddy (CEO).
LinkFresh – Jeremy Wardell (general manager).

Advisers
Vendor – BDO (corporate finance); Capital Law (legal).

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Support services
• BDO LLP
• United Kingdom
• Trade sale
• WestBridge Fund Managers